Boskoop back on track but market cautious

15 October 2010,
by Gemma Mackenzie

Trade from the Boskoop region is back on track after the longhorn beetle outbreak of Boskoop (HW, 5 February) although the English market remains cautious, according to exhibitors at Groot Groen Plus in Zundert, the Netherlands.

Chiel de Boer from MG de Boer Nursery said: "We were in the region where
firms were closed but we didn't have beetles. The firm was shut for a
week and people were afraid of buying from the region.

"I heard that for the English it was a big problem and that people are
afraid to buy in the region because they are afraid of the inspections.
It's not good for the trade and I would say there's no need to be
worried."

He added: "The chances of you finding one of the beetles in your
personal garden is much bigger than the chance that you will find it in
our nursery products. I'm not worried it will come back."

Commenting on the quarantine carried out, he added: "I think it was a
bit over the hill but you have to live with it. We export a lot of stuff
in Holland and we have to be more careful than other countries."

Arend Oudjik from Arend Oudjik Nursery commented: "It's now back to
normal, but I have heard that for some exporters to England it has been
bad - they make more problems for the area, but we don't export much
there.

"I'm happy that everything is OK. It's possible that it will come back
but it could get anywhere, I think. The only problem I have is selling
plants out of the region."

A representative from Boot & Co which runs one of its nurseries out of
the area added: "We were lucky because it was in the winter so there was
not much trading."

He continued: "In Boskoop everything is free so I don't believe that
there are any problems. We are Dutch people, we sell good products.
Everyone was scared but it's all right."

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